Will Stanhope

Will Stanhope started climbing in the Edge Climbing Center in North Vancouver in 1994 at age 8. Having got his start in climbing competitions, he slowly gravitated an hour north up the road to Squamish where he learned to trad climb with a fellow youngster. Despite making many bumbly mistakes along the way, Will managed to survive.

Now 21 years old, Will is most drawn to desert spires, granite walls and wild alpine towers. He has made first free ascents in the moss-choked cracks of Squamish and has freed big walls in Yosemite. Granite remains his true passion.

Though he spends most of the year on the road, Will calls Vancouver, BC, home. When in town, he is a routesetter and coach at Edge. He is also an ACMG certified Assistant rock guide. And, when the weather is drizzly and damp, he loves to wander the woods around the Squamish Chief sniffing out unclimbed rock.